Today in Philly Sports History: Jim Fregosi on WIP Line One, 1994

Say what you will about Philly sports radio...well, maybe don't say exactly what you will, at least not if you're a high-ranking Philadelphia sports official and there's a risk of it possibly being repeated. Phillies manager Jim Fregosi learned about this the hard way, after some slightly blue comments he made off the cuff on May 14th, 1994, which made their way to WIP personality Howard Eskin. Said Fregosi (exact quote varies): "People who listen to WIP are a bunch of guys in South Philly that [fornicate with] their sisters and the people that work at WIP [fornicate with] their mothers."

Interesting. To his credit (or maybe not), Fregosi owned up to making the comments. "I don't deny saying it," quoth the Manager, "But I must reinforce that by no means does it
reflect my true feelings concerning our fans I sincerely appreciate our
fans." Fregosi also expressed his relative dismay that the quote was repeated in the first place. "Often times we have a general bull session, times where I let my hair
down. Much of the conversation is said in jest [...] It is
understood that any comments made during these bull sessions are not for
public consumption." Bet you Jim's not too much of a Twitter or TMZ fan these days either.

Of course, this would probably have been less of a story--and Fregosi might have been less likely to make the comments in the first place--had the Phillies not struggled so much out of the gate in the 1994 season, a year after making it all the way to the World Series. The Phils were just 14-21 at the time of Fregosi's rant, and things never really picked up momentum from there, the team ending the strike-shortened season with a 54-61 record. Jim never won more than 70 games after his one post-season with the Phillies, and he was fired after the '96 year.